RECTOR, Ark. (AP) — A preliminary report says a northeast Arkansas police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man the day after Christmas.
Prosecutor Scott Ellington in Jonesboro says Rector Officer Jeffery Wolfenbarger appears justified in shooting 21-year-old Gary Warbritton as Warbritton pointed a handgun at two other officers at a convenience store in Rector, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock.
Officer was justified in shooting
Ellington wrote in a letter to Arkansas State Police Col. Bill Bryant that both Wolfenbarger and Officer Michael Turner appear justified in shooting at Warbritton.
Turner had encountered Warbritton on a city street and shot and missed him when Warbritton pointed the gun at him.
Ellington noted that his report is preliminary pending ballistics and autopsy reports.